Cos - 1976 - Viva Boma

Cos

1976

Viva Boma

01. Perhaps Next Record (1:25)

02. Viva Boma (2:35)

03. Nog Verder (4:32)

04. Boehme (3:17)

05. Flamboya (7:33)

06. In Lulu (4:08)

07. L'idiot Léon (10:48)

08. Ixelles (5:02)

Bonus tracks on 1997 Musea CD release:

09. Mon Rebis (previously unreleased) (6:03)

10. Reine De La Vallée (previously unreleased) (4:17)

11. Nog Verder (demo version) (7:22)

12. Fanfan La Tulipe (vocal improvisation) (2:38)

- Pascale Son / vocals, oboe

- Daniel Schell / acoustic & electric guitars, alto flute, devices

- Marc Hollander / keyboards, bass clarinet, alto saxophone (9), devices

- Alain Goutier / bass

- Guy Lonneux / drums

With:

- Marc Moulin / Mini-Moog (5,8), co-producer

- Denis Van Hecke / cello (8)

- Bob Dartsch / drums (6,8), percussion (2,3)

- Roger Wollaert / drums (10)

- Jack Mauer / drums & vocal improvisation (12)

- Willy Masy / drums & vocal improvisation (12)

- Pipou (Yves Lacomblez) / percussion (2)

- Jean-Louis Haesevoets / percussion (2)

With this second album, Cos still has half of Belgium laughing because of the artwork depicting Flemish grandmas. Although Loos was gone by this time, he is replaced by Marc Hollander (future Aksak Maboul) and Lonneux (ex-Recreation) takes the drum stool, but Dartsch still participates to the album. Then feeling is even more Canterbury-esque and the progression from the debut album is awesome. Marc Moulin (from the then-defunct Placebo) is the producer of the album and also contributes some killer Fender Rhodes on two tracks.

Opening electronic pulses will startle you if you were familiar with other Cos works, but this is a very brief moment, but another surprise awaits you on the following title track with its African percussions. Further Still (Nog Verder ) is a splendid slow Fender Rhodes-based track soon picking pace to end-up like a Weather Report-like funk. Boehme just funks along with sometimes-weird KB sounds startling you. The first side closes with the lenghty Flamboya, with Pascale Son making sweet love to Moulin's moog and Hollander's Rhodes, and soon the fuzzy keys send you flying across the channel to the Kent County. Clearly the first side's highlight, this track holds some of the best Wyatt-like scatting I have heard outside himself.

Son's opening Arabic influenced-vocals are a startling wake-up-and-pay-attention call especially when Schell pulls in one of those mystical Santana-like guitar solo just after it. The lenghty Idiot Leon is the cornerstone of the album with its fuzzy organ (David Sinclair-like) and weird quacking noises and a blistering Schell solo and wind instruments interventions. Closer Ixelles is a slow ode to the city where I was born some 13 years sooner and is probably my fave from the vinyl, but I can only be partial.

The four bonus tracks are excellent and great interest, especially a very different (and better) Nog Verder than the album version with its obvious Stella Vander-like vocals and Zeuhl-esque keyboards. A real touch of class!! But the other three were tracks that did not make the cut when the album was released. I can imagine how some choices can be painful.

The only regret I have is that Son's lyrics (actually Schell's) are not printed on the Musea first issue. As this album got a re-released from Musea in early 2006, one can hope that this will be amended. Nevermind the details, we are again looking at a splendid album that typifies the 70's Belgian scene much better than the mediocre Machiavel. Owning this album is one of the requisite to being a happy proghead and only the ones who do not know this cannot understand.

Another strong album from Cos, taking a gentle, laid back approach to the Canterbury style with the occasional outbreak of martial, Zeuhl-like rhythms. A little more experimental in its compositional approach than the previous album, there's points which remind me of early Henry Cow too, so RIO fans who like a bit of Canterbury could do a lot worse than checking this one out. Once again, the vocals of Pascale Son enhance the music appreciably, whilst band leader Daniel Schell's guitar work is particularly diverting at points. One to listen to if you want some Canterbury whimsy but at the same time are in the mood for something more tranquil and relaxing than most Canterbury bands.